1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to techniques for controlling the printing/copying of a document and the subsequent editing of the document by a downstream user prior to printing based on data embedded in the printed output. The embedded data enables a user to control the cost, for example, associated with printing/copying the document. In addition to a content-description, copy- or edit-protection features may also be contained in the embedded data. The techniques may be realized as methods, various aspects/steps of which may be performed by an appropriately configured apparatus (e.g., a computer, printer, copier, etc.). Additionally, a program of instructions (e.g., software) directing such apparatus to perform the methods or steps thereof may be embodied on a medium that is readable by the apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
As personal computers and the Internet have become more ubiquitous, the amount of digital content created has increased. At the same time, more and more of that digital content is finding its way into print form. The increasing desire to print digital content has been driven in part by the ease in which text and images generated on, or imported to, a personal computer can be printed. Improvements in the functionality and use of external digital devices such as digital cameras (stand-alone and cell-phone embodied), personal digital assistants and other digital devices have also contributed to the increased printing of digital content. The integration of such digital devices to operate seamlessly with printers and multi-function peripherals that offer print, scan and wired/wireless media connectivity makes printing digital content from these devices a routine task.
With the increase in the printing of digital content, printers have continued to evolve to provide more printing options that represent widely varying cost and output quality tradeoffs. These tradeoffs are significant even for relatively high-resolution printing (e.g., 600 dpi or higher) depending on the choice of platform (ink-jet printers, color laser printers, etc.) and the output medium (recycled paper, glossy photographic paper, etc.).
The ability of printers to generate higher resolution output has allowed the development of data embedding (or watermarking) schemes for printing. The high-resolution capability of printers has made it possible to embed a larger number of bits on the printed page. The embedded data can even be used to encode a PDL description of the document itself so that it could be reconstructed from a printed copy. However, current technology does not provide a data embedding/recovery system whereby reproduction of the carrier document is directly tied to select variables, such as cost, quality and speed, set by the user. Current technology also does not provide a system that can include additional controls, i.e., copy- or edit-protection controls that impose certain restrictions on the subsequent printing/copying or editing of the document.